Ireland imported more than €20bn worth of goods from the UK last year, exported €15.7bn

More than 400,000 jobs depend on trade between the UK and Ireland according to the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. Photo: PA Wire

Ireland imported more than €20 billion worth of goods from the United Kingdom last year, while we exported €15.7 billion to our closest neighbours, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

The proportion of Ireland to UK trade has fallen from 28% of total exports in 1994 to 10% in 2019, and from 37% of total imports in 1994 to 22% in 2019.

The new figures come as Brexit trade talks have been extended once again as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen failed to get a deal over the line before Sunday's deadline.

More than 400,000 jobs depend on trade between the UK and Ireland according to the British Irish Chamber of Commerce.

In total, Ireland exported €152bn worth of goods in 2019 with almost a third going to the United States, making it our largest single export market.

€47bn worth of goods were exported to the US last year, €8bn more than in 2018.

There was €79bn worth of goods exported to Europe in 2019, with nearly half of this exported to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Asia accounted for €17.4 billion of our exports in 2019, making it a larger export destination than any country in Europe with €8.2 billion exported to China.

The State imported €91bn worth of goods last year with almost €57bn coming from Europe.

More than €1.2 billion of Ireland’s imports of clothing and apparel came from Asia in 2019, comprising over 60% of total imports of these products.